Crawford can't wait to erase memory of soft playoff goals

Goalie believes he was playing well before overtime scores team couldn't overcome in postseason

January 11, 2013|By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune reporter

For those Blackhawks who didn't allow soft overtime goals in consecutive games while their team was going down in flames in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, the wait for this season to begin has been difficult.

For Corey Crawford — the goaltender who did — it has been excruciating.

"I'm not going to lie, it has been pretty long," Crawford said Friday after an informal practice with Hawks teammates at Johnny's IceHouse West. "I feel like I need to redeem myself a bit. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and finally it's here so I'm getting excited and ready to go."

Crawford yielded overtime goals on Mikkel Boedker shots that the netminder believes he should have stopped in Games 3 and 4 against the Coyotes during a series in which the Hawks fell in six games. The 113-day lockout that ended last week only served to prolong his misery.

"You use it to get better," Crawford said. "Those are obviously two that aren't supposed to go in. But you look at it in a positive way: It's something that can be corrected easily. I just have to look at it as trying to build off that and get better from it."

The 28-year-old Crawford said he has thought about the goals in those games in April that put the Hawks in a hole they couldn't escape and believes a tweak in his technique will solve the problem.

"It was a situation where you get caught in between two things," Crawford said. "Instead of going just straight butterfly or one knee down against the post, you get caught in-between. You have to be confident and stick with one thing — have it 100 percent or else it's going to go in once in a while."

Crawford has heard talk the only thing that could keep the Hawks from being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender is the team's goaltending. The Montreal native said he takes that as a challenge in what could be a make-or-break season for him.

"I'm pretty competitive," he said. "I (can't) try to prove everyone wrong but (must) do my thing and stop some pucks. If I want to be here in the future this year is definitely huge for me.

"I was at a high level at the end of last year. The playoffs were a little up and down but I just have to get to that level I was at and maintain it."

To that end, Crawford's training in the offseason focused on flexibility.

"That's definitely something I improved during the summer for second-effort saves and scrambles," he said. "There's always room to improve everywhere."

Coupled with backup Ray Emery, Crawford will face a frenetic pace once the 48-game season begins Jan. 19 with an afternoon game against the Kings in Los Angeles. How difficult will it be to play a schedule that likely will include four games per week?

"We'll see," Crawford said. "You just have to make sure to take care of yourself. Especially with travel if you don't do the right things, eat well and get the right rest you could get tired quickly. (but) it will be fun to be playing more games than practices."